


self recognition through the other

by zagspect



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: ...and viewers like you!, Get-Together Fic, Multi, Polyamory, eventual meg/reader/zag if u want to imagine it, nothing spicy but a wink to some offscreen business, your imaginations the limit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29866146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zagspect/pseuds/zagspect
Summary: Zagreus will bring lovers together whether he knows it or not- whether on purpose or, quite literally, over his dead body.
Relationships: Megaera (Hades Video Game)/Reader, Megaera/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Kudos: 6





	self recognition through the other

**Author's Note:**

> an xreader! i return to my roots,
> 
> look this is just me having some silly fun times and presenting it in 2nd person format for the collective internet we to imagine. reader is a tartarus-living wood nymph and uses she/her pronouns! if you don't, just know: i don't either lol.
> 
> this was gonna be a more zag+reader focused fic where they go we both love our cool gf hence the title but now its more reader/meg and i forgot to change the title. but its okay!

If the wretched shades punished in Tartarus are to be made an example of, there also has to be a crowd. This is what you figure the reasoning behind being sent to Tartarus went. Certainly there are sins for you to reflect on when you pass by horrors- Alecto, in particular, makes you so glad you're just there as audience- but in the case of one particular Fury, you couldn't help but push aside a guilty conscience to think, _whoa_.

_I wish that were me._ And then, _Is it weird if I wish that were me._

("Not at all," said a friend of yours when you admitted this. They're one of the hand-shades, and their fingers waved at you lazily up from the river. "But if it becomes public knowledge, you're going to have Alecto on your tail.")

But even in Tartarus there is good fortune. This good fortune appeared through the underworld lottery. It showed up pretty unexpectedly after ages of monotony- there is an unlucky man who seems to be saddled with the burden of running through the underworld back and forth, over and over, and everyone solid enough to hit him is ordered to kill him on sight. This is, you've heard from friends of yours who are a part of this, a huge pain that makes scheduling impossible. It's also harder than it sounds, because the target is allowed to fight back, and he is _vicious_. So everyone hated this.

_If you kill him, you win a huge prize from Lord Hades himself,_ came the compromise some time later. And enthusiasm went right up. Everyone not solid enough to fight, wanting to get in on the fun, started betting on these attempted escapes. 

You started betting on Megaera. 

"Not the Sneak?" asked your friend in the river. "The Furies haven't done that well in a while."

"The Sneak is fine, I guess. But, come on, you know I've always been more of a Megaera fan."

They wiggle their fingers in laughter. 

And on this fine day or night, you could just hug whoever was responsible for this strange attempt at entertainment for all you shades, because she's _won_ \- you both have to collect your prizes from the same room - it is the _perfect_ time to say hello.

"Great fight out there." you say, collecting your coins. When you look over you see her like she's never been at her proper job: tired out and bleeding pretty heavily. Her hair is messy and a chunk is cut off where the target's sword had narrowly missed her neck. But she's still alive, and has a diamond to show for it. You should not have looked over, though, because seeing her makes you trip over what you were going to say.

"I knew betting on you was a good idea! You're... um, really good at..." 

She holds up her whip.

"This?"

You nod quickly. Was that a smile from her, for just a moment? You hope it was. 

"Thanks," she says. "Nice to meet you."

Would it be too forward to shake her hand? Yeah, definitely. You settle for floating next to her.

And that moment leads to you waving goodbye to her before she left on a break, which leads to meeting her _during_ her breaks, which becomes her almost being late (but never _actually_ late) because you were so busy talking. She's not _nice_ when you get to know her, but she's _interesting_. Has a sharp sense of humor. She's honest, and surprisingly fun, and intense, and... 

And, you love her.

And she starts avoiding you as soon as it's even on your mind when the two of you are in the same room. It's sudden, and it hurts, and she won't even talk to you long enough to ask what's wrong.

"Busy, sorry," she says when you try to spend time with her. She doesn't sound sorry at all.

"Do you have a mi-"

"I don't have time for you."

"Really, if there's anything I did-"

"You're making me late."

"I just, I hope I never said anything that made you uncomfortable-"

"Get out of my way."

You put all your bets on the wretched Sneak.

"There, there," says your friend in the river, rubbing your back soothingly. 

You don't know how much time goes by until she finds you again, but it isn't enough to get over her. She's at _your_ door, for once. She hooks a bag on your doorknob like she lives there.

"Finally less busy?"

It sounds angrier than you wanted it to, but not so angry that she minds. She laughs, instead.

"Yes, actually."

"Oh."

"You started looking at me like _that_ and I had to take some time away. Sort out some issues." 

"That's..." you sigh. So it showed up on your face and she didn't even turn you down nicely. "That's cruel, Meg." 

The nickname is natural to you, even now.

"When am I not?" she smirks. "But... I could have been nicer about it. Given you more of a heads up."

She looks away from you, can't meet your eyes. 

"Look," you say. "I... like you a lot, and if you don't feel the same way-"

"No, I do."

She... _what_? This is when the breath you were holding would have rushed out of you, if you were still alive. In death you go nearly transparent for a second before your color floods back.

She decides that she's done being awkward, looks at you sharply. 

"I have a boyfriend," she starts. Oh. She's the punisher of jealousy, you remember. She has to set the best example. Maybe don't get your hopes up just yet- "No, don't worry, It's an open sort of relationship. He's got other partners too, I promise he won't mind. But I wanted to have the conversation with him, before I asked you anything."

Oh, again. Hopes are back in the air.

"And youre asking me... what?"

"And," she rolls her eyes and reaches into the bag to reveal an entire bottle of Ambrosia, "He said I should give you this and go say sorry for avoiding you. I don't do bribery, you know that, but I figured we could split it while I'm here."

You try to put everything together in your head.

"If you're still interested, of course. If you want me to leave, I'd understand. I was pretty mean."

It's not quite an apology, but it's alright. Knowing she didn't do this because she hated you makes it better. The opposite, in fact.

"Of _course_ I'm interested!"

You could send a whole bouquet of flowers to this generous mystery man. Your first time kissing Meg tastes like Ambrosia. 

She brought her whip, you notice out of the corner of your eye. She catches you looking and smiles wider than you've ever seen on her before, kisses you again but fierce this time, holding you hard enough to push through the outline of your body.

She does not think it weird at all that long ago, before you even knew her, you thought _I wish that were me_.

"It's not my work whip," she says. "It might go through you, actually. We'd have to try it."

Today is a day of granting wishes.

🦇🌲🔥

You still do not know who her mystery boyfriend is.

She'd sighed when you asked. It's not that she's hiding you from each other, she explained, it's more...

"He can be a lot."

"I wouldn't mind. Maybe I'd even like him."

"I know you both from different places. I just..."

"...Compartmentalize." You know her well enough by now to understand this, and she nods gratefully. You don't ask again.

This does not keep you from being really, really curious.

It has to be someone in the main house or Tartarus, right? She doesn't go anywhere else. You're still thinking about it when the Underworld's target has completely finished off everyone in room you're watching, and you don't even notice until he puts his head right up to your window. 

"I'm not fighting!", you say quickly. His sword is covered in the ooze of your fellow shades, so solid or not, you are not taking any chances.

"Oh!" One moment he holds a massive sword with a cruel face, the next second it isn't anywhere in the room- you're unsure how he did this. "Sorry, the room is cleared, I just wanted to speak to you. Um, let me introduce myself, I'm Zagreus, you can call me Zag if you'd like."

"Uh, hi."

"You are who I think you are, I hope? There aren't many nymphs living in Tartarus and I don't have much else to go on. If I'm just guessing wrong, I'm sorry, that's embarrassing for the both of us-"

Wait.

He's got to be Meg's boyfriend.

Which means that Meg's boyfriend is the unlucky soul forced to run through the Underworld being constantly attacked. (Or maybe not _forced._ He _is_ Meg's boyfriend.) You've seen him a million times, he's been right under your nose, and Meg was worried about social worlds colliding.

Meg is _hilarious_.

He's still talking, you realize. He's been talking the entire time you were putting this together in your head. You wonder how long you could let him keep going.

"-You know how Meg can be, right, at least, if you are who I think you are you do, she's not always the most open - not that it's a bad thing! If anything, she says I'm a bit too talkative at times. I hope you know Meg. I mean, lots of shades down here do, but not socially. I've just been curious. When she said she was thinking of asking someone out I was so excited, she deserves all the love in the world, doesn't she? But I didn't know who, and she wouldn't tell me, but I figured I'd run into you eventually, if you are-"

"If you're asking me if I'm dating Meg," you say, "The answer is yes."

"Oh, good!" he says, his face lighting up, and hands you a bottle of Nectar. 


End file.
